The top legislative issues for 2017:

Support exposition district for

Better City Superior: Support

for expansion of Exposition

Districts for small market

communities.

1/2% sales tax for county road

maintenance: Pilot program

for NW Wisconsin (counties

TBD based on AB210).

Request increased PILT (payment in

lieu of taxes) for county forest

lands: request increase from

30-cents to $1 per acre.

Support (and thank for support) for

UWS and WITC: Support

budget proposal and thank for

continued support.

There are also a number of agency

issues that will comprise the lobbying

agenda. Agencies that will be visited

include: UW-Extension, Wisconsin DNR,

Wisconsin Department of

Transportation, and the Department of

Health and Human Services. More in-

depth information may be found at

www.SuperiorDays.com.

32nd Superior Days

Since Superior Days started in 1985,

UW-Extension has played a role in

coordination and community education.

UW-Extension will continue this role

into 2017, as the 32nd Superior Days

delegation travels to Madison for this

grassroots lobbying event.

Legislative Agenda Set

A series of meetings were held in

October, November, and December

where issues were identified, and then

refined. These issues establish the

lobbying agenda for Superior Days. The

32nd Superior Days will feature three

legislative issues, a legislative thank

you, and several agency issues.

Community and Economic Development

We teach, learn, lead and serve, connecting people with the University of Wisconsin,

and engaging with them in transforming lives and communities.

UW-Extension, Douglas County

Newsletter - January 2017

Douglas County

Extension Education &

Recycling Committee:

Sue Hendrickson

Scott Luostari

Charlie Glazman

Mary Lou Bergman

Mary Stone-McConnell

James Anderson III

Community & Economic

Development Educator

Community and Economic Development

Superior Days Planning Meeting

Entrepreneurs on Tap at Cedar Lounge

Douglas County Broadband Forum Solon Springs Community Center

Superior Days

Jan 16th

Jan 17th

Jan 18th

Feb 21, 22

Agriculture/Horticulture

Forage for Profit Series

Winter Fairlawn Garden Talks

Succession Planning

TBD

March-April

Jan 26& Feb 23rd

4-H Youth Development

4-H Project Night/

Volunteer in Preparation

Winter Camp

4-H Winter Fun Day/

Sledding

Superior Days

Jan 16

Jan 13-15

Feb 12

Feb 21, 22

FOODWISE

Nutrition Education in the

classroom

FITWISE Fitness Program

Today’s Explorers -

Tomorrow’s Leaders

Jan-March

Jan-March

Jan 13

Family Living

Relationships Matter

Parenting classes at Head

Start and NWCSA

Jan

TBD

Upcoming Events

2

Sharon Krause 4-H & Youth

Development Educator

4-H Youth Development

VIPs

Many people don’t realize how

important volunteers are to 4-H Youth

Development. Our main audience is in

grades 3rd – 12th, but we also work with

K - 2nd with our Cloverbud and after

school programs. In other words all

6,000+ students in Douglas County are

potential 4-H members! As the only

4-H staff person I can’t make a dent by

myself. But with over 65 volunteers?

Now that’s a different story!

This fall eight more adults made a

commitment to Douglas County 4-H by

going through the volunteer

certification process. All of them are

now leading 4-H Community Clubs, the

Douglas County Horse Association,

short-term STEM clubs, or acting as

project leaders.

Anyone interested in becoming a 4-H

volunteer can attend a Volunteer In

Preparation (V.I.P.) training on Monday,

January 16 at 6:00 pm at Northwestern

High School. The certification process

involves a little bit of paperwork, a 90

minute training session and an online

Mandatory Reporter course that takes

approximately 15 - 20 minutes. If you

cannot attend please contact me to

make other arrangements.

Project Night

The V.I.P. training on January 16th

corresponds with Douglas County’s 4-H

Project Night. This is a great way to see

what 4-H has to offer! All parents and

children are invited to attend and try

numerous hands-on projects 4-H

members learn about. Cooking, Art,

STEM activities and animals will all be

there and snacks will be provided. It’s

free and there is no obligation to sign

up for 4-H. Come join us at

Northwestern High School at 6:00 pm!

For those of you who don’t know how

4-H projects work, members sign up by

joining one or two of our clubs for a

nominal fee ($3 for K – 2nd, $5 for 3rd

and up). Besides attending club

meetings and activities, members can

choose up to 10 projects they want to

learn about. Currently Douglas County

offers almost 100 of them, from digital

photography to shooting sports and

rabbits to horses. We even have a

horseless horse project for youth who

don’t have their own! Projects are

learner-centered, so kids go at their

own pace. Project leaders are adults

and older youth, so kids as young as 3rd

grade can start developing their

leadership skills by teaching others

what they know! When the county fair

comes around, that is the chance for

them to show what they learned.

Judges critique their work and the

youth can then build on it the next year.

This process reflects the four essential

elements of 4-H: Belonging, Mastery,

Independence and Generosity.

S.T.E.M. Activities

In past newsletters I have written about

two major components of our S.T.E.M.

activities (Science, Technology,

Engineering and Math). One is a set of

LittleBits, which are essentially

electronic building blocks that allow 3rd

– 8th graders to create and invent. We

have recently added new pieces that

give students the opportunity to

expand their knowledge by turning

smart phones and tablets into remote

controls. If you or someone you know

is interested in collaborating with

Douglas County 4-H to bring this

technology to youth, please contact me.

In Solon Springs, a group of 7th graders

in Mr. Meyers’ Outdoor Education class

borrowed Digital Observation

Technology Skills kits (D.O.T.S.) from

our office. These kits have high tech

tools the students used to study their

school forest this fall, and more studies

will be conducted in the spring.

3

(4-H cont.)

Winter Camp

The same technology kits used by the

Solon Springs students will be on

display at our regional 4-H Winter Camp

in January. 4-H high school members

from 7 counties will come together for

a weekend of fun, learning and

leadership development. This year the

youth will use the D.O.T.S. kits to

compare longitudinal temperature

readings in small Quinzee huts and

contrast the insulating properties of

different types of clothing. Another

portion of camp will center on a

personality test which will be

administered by a trained 4-H youth

development educator. After finding

out their strengths and weaknesses the

youth will be challenged to put them to

use in group settings.

Superior Days Youth Delegation

Update

Over 40 juniors and seniors from 8 high

schools and 5 counties will join adults in

Madison on February 21-22. During the

last training session on December 5th,

students reviewed the mission and

expectations of Superior Days and

practiced categorizing issues as

legislative, agency, or both. They

received an update on the issues most

likely to be brought to Madison this

year and were encouraged to research

them before February.

Students also nominated and voted for

a Keynote Speaker at their Youth

Banquet. Their first choice this year is a

member of the University Of Wisconsin

Board Of Regents. Other nominees

included a Supreme Court Justice and

various legislators. All of their choices

reflect an interest in the future of

Wisconsin and what roles they may play

in it.

Jane Anklam Agriculture/

Horticulture Educator

Agriculture & Horticulture

extend local food healthy eating into

2017. As we plan our food gardens for

spring, let’s remember to add “winter

vegetables” to our home containers and

raised beds. (secret: winter squash are

good keepers , nutritious, and easy to

grow!)

Agriculture

We have had a bumper forage crop this

year. This is a challenge for farmers

who sell forages as a source of income.

UW – Extension will be holding “Forage

for Profit” sessions this winter to give

farmers management tools to excel in

forage as a cash crop in good years and

bad. We will also look at the ability of

forages to support our pollinators and

control our nutrient and sediment

loading to the watershed. Perfect

timing as we move ahead with the

Douglas County Farmland Preservation

Plan.

Horticulture

We are honored to have 11 new

Master Gardener Interns join us to

extend the art and science of

Horticulture throughout Douglas

County. After 10 weeks of study and

practice, the interns will now proceed

with their capstone projects. These

include presenting at formal

workshops, continuing to expand the

reach of the supplemental food garden

at Solid Rock, developing curriculum

for sustainable landscaping, accessible

gardening demonstration, medicinal

public garden, designing a rose garden

for public instruction, editing a

horticultural newsletter, and creating

the space for a school native plant

garden. Research concludes that

implementation of horticultural

practices creates a quality of life,

enhances trust and safety in

communities , increases inputs into the

local economy , and adds to our well-

being.

Local Foods

FoodWise joined the Agriculture and

Horticulture program in extending

local food access and nutrition to the

students, teachers, and families at the

Northern Lights Elementary Holiday

Sing-a-long Program. By attending the

celebratory program and offering

locally grown samples of Squash Soup

to the attendees, the local food

coalition was able to: 1)Learn how

residents succeeded in their back yard

vegetable gardens,2) remind them of

healthy vegetable choices for the

winter, and 3) Challenge them to

“Don’t let your forage go to the birds!”

4

Julie Montgomery FoodWIse Coordinator

FoodWIse Review and Reflect

The FoodWIse Nutrition Education

Program exceeded its goals for

learners reached (unduplicated

contacts) and for contacts reached

(duplicated contacts) providing

nutrition education to a total of

1,765 unduplicated adults and

youth in 2016! FoodWIse made 6,

216 direct teaching contacts with

Douglas County residents in 2016

teaching individuals how to “make

the healthy choice the easy choice”

by choosing to eat healthy and

planning daily physical activity.

In addition to our MyPlate for My

Family lesson, provided annually at

each Head Start Center, parent

multi-series nutrition education was

offered to families enrolled in the

center based programs run by

Family Forum, Inc.-Project Head

Start.

In partnership with the Women

Infant and Child (WIC) program,

FoodWIse educators provided

Shopping Matters Grocery Tours to

SNAP-eligible parents of young

children. Douglas County WIC

program financially supports

our ten dollar shopping

challenge for WIC families and

despite our development of

fliers, partner promotion (WIC

provided a mail out to their 56

Fit Families) .

Our best group for participants

has been through Head Start

utilizing the WIC ten dollar

challenge for those who are WIC

recipients. We are developing

signage for grocer information

board promotion and working with

partners to access childcare and

transportation for parents to attend

tours.

Transportation and childcare are

identified by young parents as the

most restrictive issue. I have

spoken with a FoodWIse specialist

in Madison about the possibility of

the FoodWIse program obtaining

grant funding thru Walmart’s

community foundation to pay for

childcare and transportation in

addition to the ten dollar challenge,

because all three are fundable thru

the Walmart Corporation. Outreach

identifies one or two individuals

interested in attending a shopping

tour bimonthly. We keep an

ongoing list of interested individuals

and work toward a six to eight

person tour group.

Oct. 2016 brought in new Salvation

Army leadership. Lieutenant’s Jasen

and Mary Elcombe are interested in

programming and building

relationships within our county. We

look ahead to working with them.

5

2017 Highlights

Our new grant year began October

1st and we are now bringing the first

quarter of our new year to a close.

This year, our multilevel project

includes collaborating with the

Superior School District Food

Service in developing policy,

systems and environmental change

to improve the food environment

for youth and families in our county.

FoodWIse Douglas County is one of

eight counties in WI piloting a ten

week fitness program also known as

Strong Bones/Strong Women or

FITWISE, developed by Tufts

University. We have added a

nutrition component and opened

the free pilot class to any adult

interested in bone strengthening

and being a part of our research.

The Superior Senior Center has

agreed to assist us providing

participants, space and Ken, a senior

who currently provides a free class

will co-teach with us from January-

March of 2017.

The state office has added an

Evaluation Specialist to the mix and

Douglas County has offered to

provide our state

with some much

needed data. This

year, Douglas

County FoodWIse

has agreed to track

youth programming

individually by

student ID number!

Each student

completes an

anonymous pretest,

post-test and a post-

post evaluation one

to two months

following our

classroom

educational series.

Our in school youth

lessons are one hour

long, so Tarah

Nichols, Nutrition

Educator has had to

adjust her lessons in

order to obtain

required data. So

far it has been

working. We are

keeping track of

data entry time

involved to assist

with future

FoodWIse state

programming plans

to track all

participants

individually in the

future. Stay tuned

for results!

FITWISE

Based on FoodWIse requirements, Douglas County

provided balanced (parity) educational programming

to residents who identify in one of three racial

categories including American Indian and Alaskan

Native, Black or African American, and white.

Based on FoodWIse requirements, Douglas County

provided balanced (parity) educational programming

to residents of both youth and adult age groups.

A Snapshot of FoodWIse

Participants

166

106

113

0

214

0

599

69

20

121

0

71

1

282

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

American Indian and Alaska Native

Asian

Black or African American

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

Two or More Races

Race Not Indicated/Provided

Total By Race

FoodWIse Participants by Race

Actual Audience Potential Audience

4,835

1,765

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

White

FoodWIse Participants by Race

Actual Audience

Potential Audience

4,239

995

1,195

1,052

Potential Audience

Actual Audience

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000

FoodWIse Participants by Age Group

Youth Adult

6

Tarah Nichols Nutrition Program

Educator

HIGHLIGHTS FROM 3RD GRADE

Who doesn’t love to sample food!

The 3rd graders at Lake Superior,

Cooper, Bryant, and Northern Lights

Schools are no exception.

Grapefruit, cantaloupe, honey dew

melon, spinach with raspberry

vinaigrette , sweet peppers and

bean dip were offered as food

samples to expose children to new

foods or reinforce those foods

already tried.

I visited for one hour over the

course of five weeks. The students

enjoyed learning about the MyPlate,

how germs make us sick, how to

choose healthy snacks by reading

the ingredient lists on packages and

learning how to read food labels.

We spent three lessons having fun

with different activities introducing

how to read food labels. Students

liked being able to use real food

labels from items they eat as we

practiced reading and applying the

5/20 Rule to decide if their food was

an “anytime” or “sometimes” food.

An “anytime” food would be high in

vitamins, fiber and lower in fat,

sodium, sugar and cholesterol.

A “sometimes” food would be

considered high in sodium,

cholesterol, sugar, fat and low in fiber

and vitamins.

5/20 Label Rule

http://bit.ly/2hSjncv

At the end of our five week lesson we

played MyPlate bingo. The children

have to fill out their bingo board with

foods from each of the five food

groups.

The pictures are of the children filling

out their board before we were able

to play.

Help us tell our story by

sharing yours!

Go to UWCX.ORG to share how UW

Colleges and Extension impacted your life!

7

Araceli Whitwam-Sell

Family Living Educator

The Power of Color

According to the Mental Health Foundation relationships are one of the most important aspects of our lives, but many of us don’t realize how crucial our connections with other people are for our physical and mental wellbeing. Relationships include not only the intimate rela-tionships we have with our respec-tive partners, but also those we form with our parents, siblings and grandparents, as well as those we form socially with our friends, work colleagues, and community.

In the United States, the average working week consists of 40 hours and most of us will spend about one-third of our lives working, which make positive work relationships of great value to both employee and employer alike. The Gallup Organi-zation, reports that people who have a best friend at work are seven times more likely to be engaged in their jobs. Tom Rath, author of Vital Friends: The People You Can't Afford to Live Without (Gallup Press, Au-gust 2006) expanded on The Gal-lup’s findings. Rath, along with sev-eral leading researchers, explored the impact of friendships and found that friendship could halve your chances of dying of heart disease; speed healing; and reduce your chances of getting cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, Type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, and certain cancers. Additionally, the quality of a married couple's friendship could account for 70% of overall marital satisfaction.

UW-Extension Family Living educa-tor, Araceli Whitwam-Sell partners with families, agencies, volunteers and community groups to deliver a variety of resources and services that strengthen the relationships

Family Living and parenting of Douglas County members. Recently, she became a Real Colors Certified Facilitator through training provided by the National Curriculum Training Insti-tute (NCTI). Since 1981, NCTI has focused on understanding human behavior and the motivations be-hind it. Using that knowledge, they created innovative workshops based on their exclusive Real Colors® Per-sonality Instrument.

As a Real Colors® Certified Facilita-tor, Whitwam-Sell will provide the community of Douglas County with a dynamic and exciting Real Colors®

workshop experience. The basis of the workshop is the Real Colors® Personality Type Test: a user-friendly, intuitive tool that identifies four personality types common to all people—Gold, Green, Blue, and Orange.

Each participant will:

Gain an understanding of the four colors (each corre-sponding to a personality type)

Discover where they fall as an individual on the Real Col-ors® spectrum

Learn to recognize characteris-tics of each of the four col-ors

Discuss with fellow workshop participants what it’s like to be each color

From the very beginning, partici-pants will begin to see the world from a new perspective…and have fun doing it! After completing the fundaments workshop, individuals will be able to participate in ad-vanced workshops designed to ad-dress common organizational topics such as stress, workplace issues, teams, and leadership.

Whitwam-Sell’s certification training enables her to tailor delivery of each workshop to fit each audi-ence’s unique needs. Real Colors® is not just for the workplace, but ra-ther it is for all individuals and youth over the age of 12, both adults and youth have their own personality test, and the program is available in several languages other than Eng-lish.

Identifying your color is an innova-tive way of building self-awareness so we can understand and change, if one chooses, how we act and react towards harmony or conflict with others in our relationships both in and out of the workplace. Through the delivery of Real Colors® work-shops, Whitwam-Sell continues her goal to support individuals in their efforts to have stronger and more rewarding experience in all their relationships.

8

An EEO/AA employer, University of Wisconsin Extension provides equal opportunities in employment and programming, including Title IX and

ADA requirements. Any person requiring special accommodations for attending Douglas County UW-Extension programs should contact

715-395-1363 in advance of scheduled programs so that appropriate arrangements can be made.

4-H Youth Development Sharon Krause, Educator Email: sharon.krause@ces.uwex.edu Agriculture & Horticulture Jane Anklam, Educator Email: jane.anklam@ces.uwex.edu Community Resource Development Director James Anderson Email: james.anderson@ces.uwex.edu Family & Community Support Araceli Whitwam-Sell

Email: araceli.wihitwamsell@ces.uwex.edu

Administrative Staff Cheryl Shockley, Program Assistant Email: cheryl.shockley@ces.uwex.edu Jeanne Ward, Program Assistant Email: jeannie.ward@ces.uwex.edu FoodWIse Julie Montgomery, Coordinator Email: julie.montgomery@ces.uwex.edu

Tarah Nichols, Educator Email: tarah.nichols@ces.uwex.edu

Virginia Leith, FoodWIse Program Assistant Email: virginia.leith@ces.uwex.edu

Douglas County Courthouse

1313 Belknap Street, Room 107

Superior WI 54880

Phone: 715-395-1363

VISIT US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Website

http://douglas.uwex.edu

Twitter

https://twitter.com/UWEX_Douglas

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www.facebook.com/UWEXDouglas

Google+

https://plus.google.com

+UWExtensionDouglasCountySuperior

UW Extension Staff

Jane Anklam Recognized

Jane Anklam, UW-Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources

Educator was recognized at the 2016 State of Stopover Sym-

posium. Jane received the Centennial Stopover Award, which

recognized her work that has benefited migratory birds. Jane

through her work with the West Wisconsin Land Trust, has

helped to preserve thousands of acres of habitat.

Pictured (left to right): Kim Grveles, Wisconsin DNR; Jane

Anklam, West Wisconsin Land Trust; and Sumner Matteson,

Wisconsin DNR.

Welcome to the New Master Gardeners

From left to right, back row: Elisa Barnick-Snyder, Barb

Durst, Becky Stuart, Laura Birnbaum, Margaret Anderson

Janet Quaderer

Front row: Bonnie Summers, Shawna Anderson, Sandy

Smith

Not pictured: Jeanne Ward

Help us tell our story by sharing yours!

Go to UWCX.ORG to share how UW

Colleges and Extension affected your life!